Readily separable connection for a well pump head



Sept. 29, 1964 c. P. HOWE READILY SEPARABLE CONNECTION FOR A WELL PUMP HEAD Filed April 25, 1963 ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,150,606 READILY SEPARABLE CONNECTION FOR A WELL PUMP HEAD Charles P. Howe, 220 E. Elm St., P.O. Box 49, Albion, Ill. Filed Apr. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 275,573 8 Claims. (Cl. 103-221) This invention relates to a readily separable connection for a well pump head, and has for an object to provide a readily separable connection provided in the pumping string of a deep well such as an oil well, artesian well, or the like, whereby the pump head may be readily separated from the pumping parts therebelow while deep in the well for removal therefrom so as to permit the pumping parts therebelow to be removed in a conventional manner, as by fishing or the like, for repair, service or replacement,

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved connection between the pump head and the pump ing parts, so that the pump head may be readily removed whenever it is necessary to gain access thereto, or to permit the pumping parts below the pump head to be readily removed by conventional means.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a pump head for an oil well having not only a readily separable connection to the pump parts therebelow, but also provided with an improved means for readily draining the fluid, such as oil or water and any entrapped solids such as sand or the like, from above the pump head to below the pumping mechanism, so as to remove the weight thereof from the pump head and from above the packer between the pump head and the casing, so that it is possible to readily lift the separated pump head and associated parts out of the well without attempting to lift the weight of the fluid thereabove.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide an improved means of draining the fluid from above the pump head and the packing between the pump head assembly nipple and the well casing, so as to permit the fluid thereabove to drain downwardly therebelow and remove its weight from the packing and the pump head permitting the pump head and packing and associated parts to be readily removed.

With the above and related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the pumping string as assembled in a deep well from the pump head down to and including the working barrel coupling.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale of the upper parts of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the well casing and pump head and packer in sealed position with the drain sleeve and bottom of the assembly nipple shown in elevation.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view on line 44 of FIG. 2, and of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of FIG. 2.

There is shown at the portion of a pumping string involved in this invention for installation in and removal from a well casing 12, the well casing 12 being part of a deep well such as a deep oil well or artesian well for Water or other fluids.

The pumping string 10 includes a pump head 14 through which extends an operating rod 16, the operating rod 16 including an upper portion 18 with a double threaded connector coupling 20 securing it to a lower portion 22, such connecting rod being conventional in the art. Threadedly secured by a right hand or convenice tional thread 24, is an assembly nipple 26. The bottom end of the assembly nipple 26 terminates in an enlarged annulus 28 integrally secured thereto and provided with a stepped shoulder 30, which is shown as consisting of two semi-circular portions 32 and 34, separated by an axially extending step 36. Although nipple 26 and annulus 28 may be made initially as two pieces as asesmbled, they are integrally united into one piece as by welding, sweating, or any other conventional manner.

Slidably supported on the assembly nipple 26 above an annular rib 38, is a tapered mandrel 4%} having a tapered surface 42 and provided with four drain openings 44 therethrongh. These drain openings 44 are spaced inwardly of the edge of the upper lip 46 of the tapered mandrel 40. The pump head 14 has a lower lip 48 substantially complementary to the upper lip 46 of the tapered mandrel 40, and the edge of the lower lip 4-8 of pump head 14- is recessed to receive and support an O-ring 50 therein so that when the lower lip 48' and upper lip as are in contact as illustrated in FIG. 3, the O-ring 50 acts as a seal and prevents access of any fluid from reaching the drain openings 44 from between the pump head 14 and the well casing 12 when a cylindrical packing 52 is secured in spaced relation from and around the assembly nipple 26 by a collar 54 secured on a drain sleeve 56.

The cylindrical packer 52, which is preferably of Neoprene, is forced outwardly by the tapered surface 42 of tapered mandrel 40, into sealing contact with the inner surface of the well casing 12, thus preventing leakage of any fluid from above the packing 52 to therebelow. The drain sleeve 56 has an annular opening 58 spacing the upper portion thereof from the assembly nipple 26, the upper portion 6%) of the drain sleeve having the lower portion 62 of the Neoprene packer 52 securely fastened thereto by means of the securing collar 54. The annular opening 58 leads to a plurality of drain openings 64 leading out into the area between the well casing 12 and the pumping string below the Neoprene packer 52, and when the Neoprene packer 52 is in sealing position as illustrated in FIG. 3, the opening 64 is thus connected through the annular opening 58 to the drain openings 44 through the mandrel 40. As a result, when the pump head 14 is first lifted upwardly by lifting the connecting rod 16 and the rod coupling 20 above its operating stroke until the coupling 20 abuts and lifts the pump head 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it first pulls the pump head 14 away from the mandrel 40, permitting any fluid and entrapped solids to drain down between the open lips 46 and 48 through the drain openings 44, and thus through the annular opening 58 leading to the drain sleeve apertures 64, to thus drain all the fluid down from above the seal packer 52.

With the weight of the fluid thus removed, it is then possible to lift'the coupling rod 16 still hi her and pull the taper 42 of the tapered mandrel 40 out of the Neoprene packer 52 as illustrated in FIG. 2, and simultaneously or subsequently pull the stepped shoulder 30 up into contact with a reversely extending complementary stepped shoulders 66 of a drain sleeve support 68 threadedly secured to the bottom of the drain sleeve 56 and compressing a packing seal 70 within the lower skirt 72 of the drain sleeve 56.

An assembly barrel 74 forming part of the well string, is secured by threads 76 to the drain sleeve support and secured on the bottom thereof by its lower threads 80, is an adaptor. The adaptor 78 has a left handed threaded neck 82 threaded into complementary left hand threads of a hook wall tapered mandrel 84. The thread 82 and its complementary thread are reverse-threaded to all the previously described threads; all the previously described threads are right handed, and the thread 82 and its complementary thread are left handed.

Below the tapered mandrel 84, the taper 86 thereon cooperates with the wall hook anchor 88, consisting of four conventional ribbed anchor segments 90, each secured on resilient arms 92 urged inwardly by resilient friction straps 94 mounted on a sleeve 96 provided with a bayonet joint 98 and pin 1% secured on a small working barrel coupling 162. The construction and operation of the hook wall anchor tapered mandrel 86 for securing the well string to the inside of the well casing 12 is of conventional construction and operation.

In order to separate or disconnect the pump head 14 and its associated parts that are assembled on the assembly nipple 26 down as far as the bottom nipple annulus 28, the connecting rod 16 and rod coupling 26 are raised first to drain the fluid between the lips 46 and 4-8 down through the drain openings 44 and out through the drain sleeve 56 at 64, whereupon the operating rod 16 is raised further, first releasing the sealed packer 52, and then further until the stepped shoulders 30 and 66, which are complementary to each other, interfit and engage With each other. Then, by means of the sucker rod extending from the surface connected to the pumping head 14, the pumping head 14 is rotated in a right hand direction. This rotation of the pumping head in a right hand direction similarly rotates the assembly nipple, and through cooperating step shoulders, rotates the drain sleeve support 68, the assembly barrel 74 and the adapter 78, to unthread the reverse or left hand thread 32 and separate the adaptor 78 and the parts thereabove from the hook wall tapered mandrel 84, thus permitting the pump head and assembly nipple 26 and the parts assembled thereon as above described, to be lifted up out of the well.

The operating rod 16 may be rotated due to its double connection in the connector to likewise separate the upper part 18 from the lower portion 22. Then, a conventional fish may be lowered into the well to remove the pump therebelow in a conventional manner for service, repair or replacement and, of course, the pump head assembly nipple and associated parts may then be reconnected in an obvious manner by rotating the thread 82 in the opposite direction after they have been brought together.

Another function of the complementary stepped shoulders is inserting the hook wall anchor at 88. A slight turn to the right unlocks the slips on the hook wall anchor, which sets the hook wall anchor.

While this style of drain sleeve and drain valve provided by this invention is particularly intended for smallbore wells, such as are too small to be used with prior art drain valves, such as shown in applicants prior Patent 2,674,200 of April 6, 1954, the drain valve of this particular invention may be used with large-bore wells as well.

Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, since the invention may be variously embodied, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a pumping unit of the class described having a pump head assembly and having a drain opening providing communication above and below the pump head assembly and an operating rod normally reciprocable through the pump head thereof in the pumping operation; means for keeping said drain opening closed during normal pumping operation comprising a pump head, an as sembly nipple threaded to said pump head, a downwardly inwardly tapered mandrel slidably secured on said assembly nipple below said pump head, an external shoulder on said assembly nipple adapted to raise said tapered mandrel when pulled up thereagainst, said tapered mandrel having drain opening means therethrough, sealing means between said pump head and said tapered mandrel preventing drainage therethrough when in sealed position, a drain sleeve communicating with said tapered mandrel and mounted therebelow on said assembly nipple and a cylindrical packer secured to said drain sleeve at its top, spaced from said assembly nipple, and cooperating with the outer surface of said tapered mandrel to seal against a well casing to prevent fluid flow downwardly thereby, whereby the area above said cooperating packer and tapered mandrel may be drained by lifting the operating rod above its pumping stroke to raise said pump head away from sealing contact with said tapered mandrel, permitting fluid above said pumping head to drain through the tapered mandrel and said cylindrical packing in sealing position and thus through said drain sleeve to the well formation therebelow.

2. In the pumping unit of claim 1, reverse thread means securing said drain sleeve to pump parts therebelow, a stepped shoulder on said assembly nipple, a complementary stepped shoulder on said drain sleeve above said assembly nipple stepped shoulder, said stepped shoulders being out of contact during normal pumping stroke of said operating rod, said pumping rod, when first pulled up, lifting said pump head away from sealing contact with said drain opening means in said tapered mandrel, permitting fluid and entrapped sand to drain therebelow, then on further pull on said operating rod, pulling said tapered mandrel up from said cylindrical packer releasing said packer from sealing cooperation with the well casing, and lifting said stepped shoulder of said assembly nipple into cooperation with said complementary stepped shoulder of said drain sleeve, whereupon said pump head and attached assembly nipple may be reverse-rotated to disengage said drain sleeve and parts thereabove from the pump parts therebelow and be removed from the well casing to permit fishing the pump parts from the casing.

3. In a pumping unit of the class described, a well string having a pump head and attached assembly nipple, a well packing attachable to a well casing, an operating rod extending therethrough, and lower elements detachably attached to the pump head and attached assembly nipple: means for readily disconnecting the pump head and attached assembly nipple and well packing of the well string from the lower elements of the well string in situ in the well casing comprising a drain means in the well string below the pump head for releasing the fluid thereabove, complementary engageable interlocking abutments, one on said assembly nipple and the other operatively connected to the lower elements of the well string, two of the lower elements being connected together by threads extending reversely of the threads in the upper elements, the well string operating rod, when raised above pumping range, first lifting the pump head to open the drain means to the fluid thereabove, then disengaging the well packing from the well casing and then lifting one of the abutments into interlocking engagement with the other, whereupon the pump head and assembly nipple may be reversely rotated to uncouple the lower elements of the well string therefrom at said reverse threads.

4. A readily separable well string in a well casing, the well string having a cylindrical well packer means engageable with the well casing, a pump head assembly, a pump assembly therebelow, a reverse thread connection between said pump assembly and said pump head assembly, means including an operating rod through the well string for first lifting the pump head assembly for first draining the fluid and entrapped solids from above the pump head assembly of the well string to below the well string packer means engaged with the well casing, means for then disengaging the Well packer means from the well casing, and means for then engaging said reverse thread connection between the pump head assembly and the pump assembly therebelow to disconnect the pump head assembly from the pump assembly and to withdraw the pump head assembly from the well casing.

5. The well string of claim 4, said draining means comprising a tapered mandrel having drain opening means therethrough, said cylindrical packer means being engageable by said tapered mandrel into sealing contact with the well casing, a drain sleeve supporting said cylindrical packer in drain communication with said tapered mandrel, said drain sleeve communicating to the Well formation therebelow, and sealing means on said pump head assembly in sealing contact therebelow with said tapered mandrel during normal pumping operation.

6. The well string of claim 5, an assembly nipple forming part of said pump head assembly and threadedly secured to the pump head thereof, said assembly nipple extending through and below said mandrel, cylindrical packer means and draining sleeve, and an annular shoulder on said assembly nipple engaging said mandrel when lifted to disengage said mandrel from said packer means and release said packer from sealing engagement with said Well casing.

7. The well string of claim 6, said reverse thread engaging means comprising a stepped shoulder on the bottom end of said assembly nipple, and a complementary stepped shoulder connected to said drain sleeve, said reverse thread connection connecting said drain sleeve to the pump assembly, said stepped shoulders, when engaged by lifting said operating rod and pump head assembly, connecting said pump head assembly to said reverse thread for operation by rotation of said pump head assembly.

8. The well string of claim 5, said mandrel having a top annular lip, said pump head assembly including a pump head, said pump head having a lower annular lip, said draining openings in said mandrel being in said top annular lip thereof and spaced inwardly of its outer edge, said sealing means being an O-ring secured in the outer edge of said lower annular lip in the pump head of said pump head assembly, said annular lips being complementary to each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,111,173 Cox Mar. 15,1938 2,172,101 Howard Sept. 5, 1939 2,675,200 Howe Apr. 6, 1954 

1. IN A PUMPING UNIT OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED HAVING A PUMP HEAD ASSEMBLY AND HAVING A DRAIN OPENING PROVIDING COMMUNICATION ABOVE AND BELOW THE PUMP HEAD ASSEMBLY AND AN OPERATING ROD NORMALLY RECIPROCABLE THROUGH THE PUMP HEAD THEREOF IN THE PUMPING OPERATION; MEANS FOR KEEPING SAID DRAIN OPENING CLOSED DURING NORMAL PUMPING OPERATION COMPRISING A PUMP HEAD, AN ASSEMBLY NIPPLE THREADED TO SAID PUMP HEAD, A DOWNWARDLY INWARDLY TAPERED MANDREL SLIDABLY SECURED ON SAID ASSEMBLY NIPPLE BELOW SAID PUMP HEAD, AN EXTERNAL SHOULDER ON SAID ASSEMBLY NIPPLE ADAPTED TO RAISE SAID TAPERED MANDREL WHEN PULLED UP THEREAGAINST, SAID TAPERED MANDREL HAVING DRAIN OPENING MEANS THERETHROUGH, SEALING MEANS BETWEEN SAID PUMP HEAD AND SAID TAPERED MANDREL PREVENTING DRAINAGE THERETHROUGH WHEN IN SEALED POSITION, A DRAIN SLEEVE COMMUNICATING WITH SAID TAPERED MANDREL AND MOUNTED THEREBELOW ON SAID ASSEMBLY NIPPLE AND A CYLINDRICAL PACKER SECURED TO SAID DRAIN SLEEVE AT ITS TOP, SPACED FROM SAID ASSEMBLY NIPPLE, AND COOPERATING WITH THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID TAPERED MANDREL TO SEAL AGAINST A WELL CASING TO PREVENT FLUID FLOW DOWNWARDLY THEREBY, WHEREBY THE AREA ABOVE SAID COOPERATING PACKER AND TAPERED MANDREL MAY BE DRAINED BY LIFTING THE OPERATING ROD ABOVE ITS PUMPING STROKE TO RAISE SAID PUMP HEAD AWAY FROM SEALING CONTACT WITH SAID TAPERED MANDREL, PERMITTING FLUID ABOVE SAID PUMPING HEAD TO DRAIN THROUGH THE TAPERED MANDREL AND SAID CYLINDRICAL PACKING IN SEALING POSITION AND THUS THROUGH SAID DRAIN SLEEVE TO THE WELL FORMATION THEREBELOW. 